Recording medium having data structure for managing reproduction of data streams recorded thereon and recording and reproducing methods and apparatuses

ABSTRACT

The data structure includes a navigation area of a computer readable medium storing navigation data associated with a data stream representing a portion of at least one reproduction path. The navigation data includes indication information, and the indication information indicates whether the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths or the data stream represents a single reproduction path. If the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths, the navigation data includes path number information and an indicator associated with each reproduction path. The path number information identifies a number of the multiple reproduction paths, and each indicator indicates a file associated with the associated one of the multiple reproduction paths.

DOMESTIC PRIORITY

This is a continuation application of application Ser. No. 10/772,326Feb. 6, 2004, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

FOREIGN PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 on KoreanApplication No. 10-2003-018416 filed Mar. 25, 2003; the entire contentsof which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a recording medium having a datastructure for managing reproduction of data streams recorded thereon aswell as methods and apparatuses for reproduction and recording.

2. Description of the Related Art

The standardization of new high-density read only and rewritable opticaldisks capable of recording large amounts of high-quality video and audiodata has been progressing rapidly and new optical disk related productsare expected to be commercially available on the market in the nearfuture. The Blu-ray Disc Rewritable (BD-RE) is one example of these newoptical disks.

FIG. 1 illustrates the file structure of the BD-RE. The file structureor data structure provides for managing the reproduction of the videoand audio data recorded on the BD-RE. As shown, the data structureincludes a root directory that contains at least one BDAV directory. TheBDAV directory includes files such as ‘info.bdav’, ‘menu.tidx’, and‘mark.tidx’, a PLAYLIST subdirectory in which playlist files (*.rpls and*.vpls) are stored, a CLIPINF subdirectory in which clip informationfiles (*.clpi) are stored, and a STREAM subdirectory in whichMPEG2-formatted A/V stream clip files (*.m2ts) corresponding to the clipinformation files are stored. In addition to illustrating the datastructure of the optical disk, FIG. 1 represents the areas of theoptical disk. For example, the general information file info.bdav isstored in a general information area or areas on the optical disk.

Because the BD-RE data structure and disk format as illustrated in FIG.1 is well-known and readily available, only a brief overview of the filestructure will be provided in this disclosure.

As alluded to above, the STREAM directory includes MPEG2-formatted A/Vstream files called clip files. The STREAM directory may also include aspecial type of clip referred to as a bridge-clip A/V stream file. Abridge-clip file is used for making seamless connection between two ormore presentation intervals selected in the clip files, and generallyhave a small data size compared to clip files. The A/V stream includessource packets of video and audio data. For example, a source packet ofvideo data includes a header and a transport packet. A source packetincludes a source packet number, which is generally a sequentiallyassigned number that serves as an address for accessing the sourcepacket. Transport packets include a packet identifier (PID). The PIDidentifies the sequence of transport packets to which a transport packetbelongs. Each transport packet in the sequence will have the same PID.

The CLIPINF directory includes a clip information file associated witheach A/V stream file. The clip information file indicates, among otherthings, the type of A/V stream associated therewith, sequenceinformation, program information and timing information. The sequenceinformation describes the arrival time basis (ATC) and system time basis(STC) sequences. For example, the sequence information indicates, amongother things, the number of sequences, the beginning and ending timeinformation for each sequence, the address of the first source packet ineach sequence and the PID of the transport packets in each sequence. Asequence of source packets in which the contents of a program isconstant is called a program sequence. The program informationindicates, among other things, the number of program sequences, thestarting address for each program sequence, and the PID(s) of transportpackets in a program sequence.

The timing information is referred to as characteristic pointinformation (CPI). One form of CPI is the entry point (EP) map. The EPmap maps a presentation time stamp (e.g., on an arrival time basis (ATC)and/or a system time basis (STC)) to a source packet address (i.e.,source packet number). The presentation time stamp (PTS) and the sourcepacket number (SPN) are related to an entry point in the AV stream;namely, the PTS and its related SPN point to an entry point on the AVstream. The packet pointed to is often referred to as the entry pointpacket.

The PLAYLIST directory includes one or more playlist files. The conceptof a playlist has been introduced to promote ease of editing/assemblingclips for playback. A playlist file is a collection of playing intervalsin the clips. Each playing interval is referred to as a playitem. Theplaylist file, among other things, identifies each playitem forming theplaylist, and each playitem, among other things, is a pair of IN-pointand OUT-point that point to positions on a time axis of the clip file(e.g., presentation time stamps on an ATC or STC basis). Expressedanother way, the playlist file identifies playitems, each playitempoints to a clip file or portion thereof and identifies the clipinformation file associated with the clip file. The clip informationfile is used, among other things, to map the playitems to the clip ofsource packets.

A playlist directory may include real playlists (*.rpls) and virtualplaylists (*.vpls). A real playlist can only use clips and notbridge-clips. Namely, the real playlist is considered as referring toparts of clips, and therefore, conceptually considered equivalent indisk space to the referred to parts of the clips. A virtual playlist canuse both clips and bridge-clips, and therefore, the conceptualconsiderations of a real playlist do not exist with virtual playlists.

The info.bdav file is a general information file that provides generalinformation for managing the reproduction of the A/V stream recorded onthe optical disk. More specifically, the info.bdav file includes, amongother things, a table of playlists that identifies the file names of theplaylist in the PLAYLIST directory of the same BDAV directory.

The menu.tidx, menu.tdt1 and menu.tdt2 files store information relatedto menu thumbnails. The mark.tidx, mark.tdt1 and mark.tdt2 files storeinformation that relates to mark thumbnails. Because these files are notparticularly relevant to the present invention, they will not bediscussed further.

The standardization for high-density read-only optical disks such as theBlu-ray ROM (BD-ROM) is still under way. An effective data structure formanaging data streams, which may represent one or more reproductionpaths, recorded on the high-density read-only optical disk such as aBD-ROM is not yet available.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The recording medium according to the present invention includes a datastructure for managing reproduction of data streams, which may representone or more reproduction paths (e.g., multiple camera angles), recordedon the recording medium.

In one exemplary embodiment, navigation data is stored in a navigationarea of the recording medium. The navigation data is associated with adata stream representing a portion of at least one reproduction path.The navigation data includes indication information, and the indicationinformation indicates whether the data stream represents multiplereproduction paths or the data stream represents a single reproductionpath. If the indication information indicates the data stream representsmultiple reproduction paths, the navigation data includes path numberinformation and an indicator associated with each reproduction path. Thepath number information identifies a number of the multiple reproductionpaths, and each indicator indicates a file associated with theassociated one of the multiple reproduction paths.

The present invention further provides apparatuses and methods forrecording and reproducing the data structure according to the presentinvention, and recording and reproducing data streams according to thepresent invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above features and other advantages of the present invention will bemore clearly understood from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the prior art file or data structure of a rewritableoptical disk according to the Blu-ray Disc Rewritable (BD-RE) standard;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a recording medium file ordata structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a recording medium having the datastructure of FIG. 2 stored thereon;

FIGS. 4-6 each illustrate a detailed embodiment of portions of the datastructure in FIG. 1 and a method for managing still images of ahigh-density recording medium according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an optical disc reproducingapparatus where the present invention is applied; and

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a recording and reproducingapparatus according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In order that the invention may be fully understood, exemplaryembodiments thereof will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

A high-density recording medium such as a high density optical disk, forexample, a Blu-Ray ROM (BD-ROM), BD-RE, etc. in accordance with theinvention may have a file or data structure for managing reproduction ofvideo and audio data as shown in FIG. 2. Some aspects of the datastructure according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2 are thesame as the well-known BD-RE standard, as such these aspects will bereviewed, but not described in great detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, the root directory contains at least one BDdirectory. The BD directory includes general files (not shown), aPLAYLIST directory in which playlist files (e.g., *.mpls) are stored, aCLIPINF directory in which clip information files (*.clpi) are stored,and a STREAM directory in which MPEG2-formatted A/V stream clip files(*.m2ts), corresponding to the clip information files, are stored.

The STREAM directory includes MPEG2-formatted A/V stream files calledclip streams files or just clip files. The A/V stream includes sourcepackets of video and audio data. For example, a source packet of videodata includes a header and a transport packet. A source packet includesa source packet number, which is generally a sequentially assignednumber that serves as an address for accessing the source packet.Transport packets include a packet identifier (PID). The PID identifiesthe sequence of transport packets to which a transport packet belongs.Each transport packet in the sequence will have the same PID.

The CLIPINF directory includes a clip information file associated witheach A/V stream file. The clip information file indicates, among otherthings, the type of A/V stream associated therewith, sequenceinformation, program information and timing information. The sequenceinformation describes the arrival time basis (ATC) and system time basis(STC) sequences. For example, the sequence information indicates, amongother things, the number of sequences, the beginning and ending timeinformation for each sequence, the address of the first source packet ineach sequence and the PID of the transport packets in each sequence. Asequence of source packets in which the contents of a program isconstant is called a program sequence. The program informationindicates, among other things, the number of program sequences, thestarting address for each program sequence, and the PID(s) of transportpackets in a program sequence.

The timing information is referred to as characteristic pointinformation (CPI). One form of CPI is the entry point (EP) map. The EPmap maps a presentation time stamp (e.g., on an arrival time basis (ATC)and/or a system time basis (STC)) to a source packet address (i.e.,source packet number). The presentation time stamp (PTS) and the sourcepacket number (SPN) are related to an entry point in the AV stream;namely, the PTS and its related SPN point to an entry point on the AVstream. The packet pointed to is often referred to as the entry pointpacket.

The PLAYLIST directory includes one or more playlist files. The conceptof a playlist has been introduced to promote ease of editing/assemblingclips (clip file and associated clip information file) for playback. Aplaylist file is a collection of playing intervals in the clip files.Each playing interval is referred to as a playitem. The playlist file,among other things, identifies each playitem forming the playlist, andeach playitem, among other things, is a pair of IN-point and OUT-pointthat point to positions on a time axis of the clip file (e.g.,presentation time stamps on an ATC or STC basis). The playlist file mayalso include sub-playitems that also provide a pair of IN-point andOUT-point that point to positions on a time axis of a clip file.Expressed another way, the playlist file identifies playitems andsub-playitems, each playitem or sub-playitem points to a clip file orportion thereof and identifies the clip information file associated withthe clip file. The clip information file is used, among other things, tomap the playitems to the clip file of source packets. Playlists may alsoinclude playlist marks which point to specific places (e.g., a specificaddress) in a clip file

The general information files (not shown) provide general informationfor managing the reproduction of the A/V streams recorded on the opticaldisk.

In addition to illustrating the data structure of the recording mediumaccording to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 representsthe areas of the recording medium. For example, the general informationfiles are recorded in one or more general information areas, theplaylist directory is recorded in one or more playlist directory areas,each playlist in a playlist directory is recorded in one or moreplaylist areas of the recording medium, etc. FIG. 3 illustrates anexample of a recording medium having the data structure of FIG. 2 storedthereon. As shown, the recording medium includes a file systeminformation area, a data base area and an A/V stream area. The data basearea includes a general information file and playlist information areaand a clip information area. The general information file and playlistinformation area have the general information files recorded in ageneral information file area thereof, and the PIAYLIST directory andplaylist files recorded in a playlist information area thereof. The clipinformation area has the CLIPINFO directory and associated clipinformation files recorded therein. The A/V stream area has the A/Vstreams for the various titles recorded therein.

Video and audio data are typically organized as individual titles; forexample, different movies represented by the video and audio data areorganized as different titles. Furthermore, a title may be organizedinto individual chapters in much the same way a book is often organizedinto chapters.

Because of the large storage capacity of the newer, high-densityrecording media such as BD-ROM and BD-RE optical disks, differenttitles, various versions of a title or portions of a title may berecorded, and therefore, reproduced from the recording media. Forexample, video data representing different camera angles may be recordedon the recording medium. As another example, versions of title orportions thereof associated with different languages may be recorded onthe recording medium. As a still further example, a director's versionand a theatrical version of a title may be recorded on the recordingmedium. Or, an adult version, young adult version and young childversion (i.e., different parental control versions) of a title orportions of a title may be recorded on the recording medium. Eachversion, camera angle, etc. represents a different reproduction path,and the video data in these instances is referred to as multiplereproduction path video data.

In a first embodiment of the present invention, data streams are managedas clip files, and each clip file is associated with a portion of atitle. When a portion of the title has multiple reproduction paths, theclip files associated with the multiple reproduction path portion of thetitle are recorded in an interleaved fashion on the recording medium.FIGS. 4 illustrates an example of a data structure and method formanaging data streams of a high-density recording medium such as aBD-ROM according to this first embodiment. FIG. 4 illustrates a titlehaving three portions; however, it will be understood that the presentinvention is not limited to having this number of portions. The firstportion has a single, first reproduction path Path #1. The secondportion has multiple reproduction paths; namely, the first reproductionpath Path #1, a second reproduction path Path #2 and a thirdreproduction path Path #3. The third portion has a single reproductionpath the first reproduction path Path #1. The first reproduction pathPath #1 is present in all three portions and may be thought of as a mainreproduction path.

As further shown in FIG. 4, the data stream representing the firstportion of the title, having the first reproduction path Path #1, ismanaged as a first clip file Clip File #1. The data streams representingthe first, second and third reproduction paths Paths #1, #2 and #3 ofthe second portion of the title are managed as second, third and fourthclip files #2, #3 and #4, respectively. The data stream representing thethird portion of the title, having the first reproduction path Path #1,is managed as a fifth clip file Clip File #5.

FIG. 4 further illustrates the allocation of the clip files on a dataarea of the BD-ROM. As shown, the first clip file Clip File #1 isrecorded. Then, the second, third and fourth clip files Clip Files #2,#3 and #4 representing the multiple reproduction path portion of thetitle are recorded in interleaved fashion on the recording medium topermit seamless playback of any one of the reproduction paths.Subsequently, the fifth clip file Clip File #5 is recorded.

When it is unnecessary to perform seamless reproduction of the multiplereproduction path data streams, the data streams of the second, third,and fourth clip files Clip Files #2, #3 and #4 may be sequentiallyrecorded clip file by clip file in a non-interleaved fashion.

During reproduction, the first, second, and fifth clip files Clip Files#1, #2 and #5 are selectively reproduced when a reproduction operationis carried out for the first reproduction path Path #1. When the secondreproduction path is reproduced, the first, third, and fifth clip filesClip Files #1, #3 and #5 are selectively reproduced. And when the thirdreproduction path is reproduced, the first, fourth and fifth clip filesClip Files #1, #4 and #5 are selectively reproduced.

In order to assist achieving a seamless reproduction of the multiplereproduction path data streams, as described above, the data streamcorresponding to the trailing end of the first clip file Clip File #1and the data stream corresponding to the leading end of the interleavedsecond, third and fourth clip files #2, #3 and #4 are recorded adjacentto each other. Also, the data stream corresponding to the trailing endof the interleaved second, third and fourth clip files #2, #3 and #4 andthe data stream corresponding to the leading end of the fifth clip fileClip File #5 are recorded adjacent to each other.

A second embodiment of the present invention is the same as the firstembodiment described above, except that each reproduction path of thetitle is managed as a single clip file. FIG. 5 illustrates an example ofthis embodiment for the same title structure discussed above withrespect to FIG. 4. As shown, the first reproduction path Path #1 ispresent in each of the three portions of the title, and the data streamof this reproduction path is managed as a single, first clip file ClipFile #1. Again, the first reproduction path Path #1 may be thought of asa main reproduction path. The second portion of the title includes asecond reproduction path Path #2 and a third reproduction path Path #3.The data streams of each of these reproduction paths are managed asindividual clip files, second clip file Clip File #2 and third clip fileClip File #3, respectively.

In this embodiment, the clip files are recorded on the BD-ROM such thatwhere the reproduction paths, and therefore at least portions of theclip files, represent the same portion of the title, the portions of theclip files representing that multiple reproduction path portion arerecorded in an interleaved fashion. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, theportion of the first clip file Clip File #1 associated with the second,multiple reproduction path portion of the title is recorded ininterleaved fashion with the second and third clip files Clip Files #2and #3, which also represent the second portion of the title.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, navigationdata associated with the data stream representing each portion of thetitle may be recorded on the recording medium. The navigation dataindicates whether associated data stream for the associated portion ofthe title is interleaved clip files; and therefore, indicates whetherthe data stream represents a multiple reproduction path portion of thetitle. The navigation data may also indicate the number of reproductionpath represented by the associated data stream. FIG. 6 illustrates anexample of this navigation data for the data structure illustrated anddescribed above with respect to FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 6, a clip information file for clip file Clip File #1of the main reproduction path includes the navigation data.Specifically, the clip information file includes interleaving sequenceinformation ILV_Sequence for the data stream representing each portionof the title. The interleaving sequence information includesidentification information Interleaving_Flag identifying an interleavedstate of the associated data stream. Namely, the interleaving flagindicates whether the data stream represents the associated portion ofthe title is interleaved clip files or not. The interleaving sequenceinformation also includes path number information Number_of_Pathindicating the number of reproduction paths represented by theassociated data stream.

As shown in FIG. 6, first, second, and third interleaving sequences ILVSequences #1, #2 and #3 associated with the data streams representingthe first, second and third portions of the title, respectively, areincluded in the first clip information file. The first interleavingsequence ILV_Sequence #1 is recorded with “Interleaving_Flag=0”indicating a non-interleaved state of the data stream (and thus a singlereproduction path of data) and “Number_of_Path=1” explicitly indicatingthat the data stream of the first portion of the title represents onereproduction path.

The second interleaving sequence ILV_Sequence #2 is recorded with“Interleaving_Flag=1” indicating an interleaved state of the data stream(and thus multiple reproduction paths), and “Number_of_Path=3”indicating that the data streams of the second portion of the titlerepresent three reproduction paths. The third interleaving sequenceILV_Sequence #3 is recorded with “Interleaving_Flag=0” indicating anon-interleaved state of the data stream (and thus a single reproductionpath of data) and “Number_of_Path=1” explicitly indicating that the datastream of the third portion of the title represent one reproductionpath.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of an optical disk reproducingapparatus according to the present invention. As shown, the optical diskreproducing apparatus includes an optical pickup 111, a drive 112, asource depacketizer 113, a demultiplexer 114, a controller 115, an A/Vdecoder 116, and a memory 117. The drive 112 drives the optical pick-upto reproduce data from an optical disk 110. The drive 112 is controlledby the controller 115. During reproduction, the controller 115 controlsthe drive 112 to reproduce the data structure of one of theabove-described embodiments. Based on the information contained therein,as well as user input received over a user interface (e.g., controlbuttons on the reproducing apparatus or a remote associated with theapparatus), the controller 115 controls the drive 112 to reproduce thedata from the optical disk.

Reproduced source packets are received by the source depacketizer 113and converted into a data stream (e.g., an MPEG-2 transport packetstream). The demultiplexer 115 demultiplexes the data stream intonavigation/management and encoded AV data. The navigation/managementdata is sent to the controller 115 and stored in the memory 117. The AVdecoder 116 decodes the encoded AV data to produce the originallyrecorded data. During reproduction, the controller 115 controls theoperation of the source depacketizer 113, demultiplexer 114 and AVdecoder 116.

An example of the operation of the optical disk reproducing apparatuswill be described for the data structure illustrated in FIG. 6. Assume,a user requests reproduction of the data streams of the first path Path#1 via the user interface. In response, the controller 115 controlsoperations of the drive 112, source depacketizer 113, demultiplexer 114,and A/V decoder 116, based on the data structure.

Specifically, the controller 115 obtains the ILV sequence informationfor the first portion of the title. Here, the “Interleaving_Flag=0” and“Number_of_Path=1”, and the controller 115 determines that theassociated data stream represents a single reproduction path ofnon-interleaved data. As such the controller 115 knows that the datastream represents the first or main reproduction path Path #1.Accordingly, the controller 115 reads out and reproduces the data streamof the first (main) reproduction path Path #1 recorded in the regionassociated with the first interleaving sequence information. Thereafter,the controller 115 obtains the ILV sequence information for the secondportion of the title. Here, the controller 115 obtains an“Interleaving_Flag=1” and “Number_of_Path=3”, and determines that thedata streams for the second portion of the title represent threereproduction paths and the clip files associated therewith areinterleaved as shown in FIG. 6. Namely, the controller 115 knows thefirst block of interleaved data is for the first reproduction path Path#1, the second block is for the second reproduction path Path #2, thethird block is for the third reproduction path Path #3, the fourth blockis for the first reproduction path Path #1, etc. Accordingly, thecontroller 115 selectively reproduces only the blocks associated withthe first reproduction path Path #1. Alternatively or additionally, theclip information file may indicate the file extent or physical positionof each block for each reproduction path on the recording medium, andthe blocks for the selected reproduction path are reproduced based onthe file extent information.

Subsequently, the controller 115 obtains the ILV sequence informationfor the third portion of the title. Here, the “Interleaving_Flag=0” and“Number_of_Path=1“, and the controller 115 determines that theassociated data stream represents a single reproduction path ofnon-interleaved data. As such the controller 115 knows that the datastream represents the first or main reproduction path Path #1.Accordingly, the controller 115 reads out and reproduces the data streamof the first (main) reproduction path Path #1 recorded in the regionassociated with the third interleaving sequence information.

Another example of the operation of the optical disk reproducingapparatus will be described for the data structure illustrated in FIG.6. Assume, a user requests reproduction of the data stream of the secondpath Path #2 via the user interface. In response, the controller 115controls operations of the drive 112, source depacketizer 113,demultiplexer 114, and A/V decoder 116, based on the data structure.

Specifically, the controller 115 obtains the ILV sequence informationfor the first portion of the title. Here, the “Interleaving_Flag=0” and“Number_of_Path=1“, and the controller 115 determines that theassociated data stream represents a single reproduction path ofnon-interleaved data. As such the controller 115 knows that the datastream represents the first or main reproduction path Path #1.Accordingly, the controller 115 reads out and reproduces the data streamof the first (main) reproduction path Path #1 recorded in the regionassociated with the first interleaving sequence information because thedata stream associated with the second reproduction path Path #2 isunderstood not to be present. Thereafter, the controller 115 obtains theILV sequence information for the second portion of the title. Here, thecontroller 115 obtains an “Interleaving_Flag=1” and “Number_of_Path=3“,determines that the data stream for the second portion of the titlerepresents three reproduction paths, and determines that the clip filesassociated therewith are interleaved as shown in FIG. 6. Namely, thecontroller 115 knows the first block of interleaved data is for thefirst reproduction path Path #1, the second block is for the secondreproduction path Path #2, the third block is for the third pathreproduction Path #3, the fourth block is for the first reproductionpath Path #1, etc. Accordingly, the controller 115 selectivelyreproduces only the blocks associated with the second reproduction pathPath #2. Alternatively or additionally, the clip information file mayindicate, the file extent or physical position of each block for eachreproduction path on the recording medium, and the blocks for theselected reproduction path are reproduced based on the file extentinformation.

Subsequently, the controller 115 obtains the ILV sequence informationfor the third portion of the title. Here, the “Interleaving_Flag=0” and“Number_of_Path=1“, and the controller 115 determines that theassociated data stream represents a single reproduction path ofnon-interleaved data. As such the controller 115 knows that the datastream represents the first or main reproduction path Path #1.Accordingly, the controller 115 reads out and reproduces the data streamof the first (main) reproduction path Path #1 recorded in the regionassociated with the third interleaving sequence information because thedata stream associated with the second reproduction path Path #2 isunderstood not to be present.

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an opticaldisk recording and reproducing apparatus according to the presentinvention. As shown, an AV encoder 9 receives and encodes data (e.g.,still image data, audio data, etc.). The AV encoder 9 outputs theencoded data along with coding information and stream attributeinformation. A multiplexer 8 multiplexes the encoded data based on thecoding information and stream attribute information to create, forexample, an MPEG-2 transport stream. A source packetizer 7 packetizesthe transport packets from the multiplexer 8 into source packets inaccordance with the audio/video format of the optical disk. As shown inFIG. 8, the operations of the AV encoder 9, the multiplexer 8 and thesource packetizer 7 are controlled by a controller 10. The controller 10receives user input on the recording operation, and provides controlinformation to AV encoder 9, multiplexer 8 and the source packetizer 7.For example, the controller 10 instructs the AV encoder 9 on the type ofencoding to perform, instructs the multiplexer 8 on the transport streamto create, and instructs the source packetizer 7 on the source packetformat. The controller 10 further controls a drive 3 to record theoutput from the source packetizer 7 on the optical disk.

The controller 10 also creates the navigation and management informationfor managing reproduction of the data being recorded on the opticaldisk. For example, based on information received via the user interface(e.g., instruction set saved on disk, provided over an intranet orinternet by a computer system, etc.) the controller 10 controls thedrive 3 to record one or more of the data structures of FIGS. 2-6 on theoptical disk.

During reproduction, the controller 10 controls the drive 3 to reproducethis data structure. Based on the information contained therein, as wellas user input received over the user interface (e.g., control buttons onthe recording and reproducing apparatus or a remote associated with theapparatus), the controller 10 controls the drive 3 to reproduce the datafrom the optical disk.

The reproduced source packets are received by a source depacketizer 4and converted into a data stream (e.g., an MPEG-2 transport packetstream). A demultiplexer 5 demultiplexes the data stream into encodeddata. An AV decoder 6 decodes the encoded data to produce the originaldata that was feed to the AV encoder 9. During reproduction, thecontroller 10 controls the operation of the source depacketizer 4,demultiplexer 5 and AV decoder 6. The controller 10 receives user inputon the reproducing operation, and provides control information to AVdecoder 6, demultiplexer 5 and the source packetizer 4. For example, thecontroller 10 instructs the AV decoder 9 on the type of decoding toperform, instructs the demultiplexer 5 on the transport stream todemultiplex, and instructs the source depacketizer 4 on the sourcepacket format.

While FIG. 8 has been described as a recording and reproducingapparatus, it will be understood that only a recording or only areproducing apparatus may be provided using those portions of FIG. 8providing the recording or reproducing function.

The data structure for and method for managing data streams on ahigh-density optical disk in accordance with embodiments of theinvention allows effective selection and reproduction of data streamsrecorded on a high density recording medium such as a BD-ROM.

As apparent from the above description, the present invention providesmethods and apparatuses for recording a data structure on a high densityrecording medium for managing data streams recorded on the recordingmedium.

The above description further provides methods and appartus forreproducing data streams recorded on a high density recording mediumbased on a data structure, also recorded on the high density recordingmedium, for managing the reproduction of data streams.

While the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited numberof embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit of thisdisclosure will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. For example, while described with respect to a Blu-ray ROM opticaldisk in several instances, the present invention is not limited to thisstandard of optical disk or to optical disks. It is intended that allsuch modifications and variations fall within the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

1. A computer readable medium having a data structure for managing reproduction of a data stream, comprising: a navigation area storing navigation data associated with a data stream representing a portion of at least one reproduction path, the navigation data including indication information, the indication information indicating whether the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths or the data stream represents a single reproduction path, and if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths, the navigation data includes path number information and an indicator associated with each reproduction path, the path number information identifying a number of the multiple reproduction paths, and each indicator indicating a file associated with the associated one of the multiple reproduction paths.
 2. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the navigation data further includes information associated with seamless reproduction if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths.
 3. The recording medium of claim 2, wherein the indication information has a first value or a second value, the first value indicating the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths, and the second value indicating the data stream represents a single reproduction path.
 4. The recording medium of claim 1, further comprising: a data area storing at least one clip file of the data stream, each clip file representing one of the multiple reproduction paths if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths.
 5. The recording medium of claim 4, wherein the multiple reproduction paths represent multiple camera angles of video data.
 6. A method of recording a data structure, for managing reproduction of a data stream, on a recording medium, comprising: recording navigation data associated with a data stream representing a portion of at least one reproduction path on the recording medium, the navigation data including indication information and at least one indicator, the indication information indicating whether the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths or the data stream represents a single reproduction path, each indicator indicating a file associated with a reproduction path; and selectively recording path number information as part of the navigation data on the recording medium based on the indication information, the path number information identifying a number of the multiple reproduction paths.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the navigation data further includes information associated with a seamless reproduction if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the indication information has a first value or a second value, the first value indicating the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths, and the second value indicating the data stream represents a single reproduction path.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising; recording at least one clip file of the stream data in a data area of the recording medium, each clip file representing one of the multiple reproduction paths if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths.
 10. A method of reproducing a data structure for managing a data stream, comprising: accessing navigation data associated with a data stream representing a portion of at least one reproduction path, the navigation data including indication information and at least one indicator, the indication information indicating whether the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths or the data stream represents a single reproduction path, each indicator indicating a file associated with a reproduction path; selectively accessing path number information from the navigation data based on the indication information, the path number information identifying a number of the multiple reproduction paths; and reproducing the data stream based on the accessed navigation data.
 11. The method of claim 10, the navigation data further includes information associated with a seamless reproduction if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the indication information has a first value or a second value, the first value indicating the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths, and the second value indicating the data stream represents a single reproduction path.
 13. The method of claim 10, further comprising; reproducing clip files of the data stream, each clip file representing one of the multiple reproduction paths if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the multiple reproduction paths represent multiple camera angles of video data.
 15. An apparatus for recording a data structure for managing a data stream, comprising: a driver for driving a recording device to record data on a recording medium, and; a controller for controlling the driver to record navigation data associated with a data stream representing a portion of at least one reproduction path, the navigation data including indication information, the indication information indicating whether the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths or the data stream represents a single reproduction path, and if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths, the navigation data includes path number information and an indicator associated with each reproduction path, the path number information identifying a number of the multiple reproduction paths, and each indicator indicating a file associated with the associated one of the multiple reproduction paths.
 17. An apparatus for reproducing a data structure for managing a data stream, comprising: a driver for driving an reproducing device to reproduce data from a recording medium, and; a controller for controlling the driver to read navigation data associated with a data stream representing a portion of at least one reproduction path, the navigation data including indication information, the indication information indicating whether the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths or the data stream represents a single reproduction path, and if the indication information indicates the data stream represents multiple reproduction paths, the navigation data includes path number information and an indicator associated with each reproduction path, the path number information identifying a number of the multiple reproduction paths, and each indicator indicating a file associated with the associated one of the multiple reproduction paths. 